Green Clacker

Green Clackers were vicious, gluttonous, opportunistic hunters that resided in the Red Vuukelp Forests off the southern coasts of Zeeon on the planet Vuunega during the Vrrnci Age. They faced competition from the local Kelpstalkers but survived for a long time because they would feed on anything small enough, while the Kelpstalkers were more focused feeders. The Green Clackers spawned a number of other clacker species before their eventual extinction, finally succumbing to overcompetition with Kelpstalkers, their own descendants and their occasional zoological infanticide and cannibalism.

Armor: Green Clackers had heavily armored heads, and very thick and heavy bones to help balance the rest of the body correctly. Because of this, the Green Clackers were relatively slow swimmers, despite very powerful swimming muscles. However, the head armor was virtually impenetrable.

Defenses: Green Clacker skin is thick and tough, to help deter foes.

Weapons: A pair of elongated and sharpened bony plates were used for teeth, and were capable of slicing, snapping, or crushing virtually anything. If these bony plates were destroyed, the Green Clacker would starve to death; however, this was hard to do, as the bony plates were actually part of head armor, and was therefore incredibly durable.

Tools: Clackers had the ability to open their mouths at a blindingly fast speed, creating a vacuum that could suck smaller prey directly into mouth. This was the usual first-attack of the species.

Method of Eating:Unspecified

Reproductive Rate: Green Clackers reproduced somewhat slower than many species, and only entered a mating season during the warmest months of summer every 2-3 years.

Gestation: A single clutch of eggs could easily be produced within a few days time, and were immediately released. From there, the eggs would spend 3 months in a specialized pouch inside the mother's mouth before hatching.

Number of Offspring: ~100 per clutch

Offspring Survival Rate (before age of maturity): 10% -- most became the victims of predation, both from local predators and other Green Clackers. Maturation was reached in 5 years.

The Green Clacker was a medium-sized demersal placodermic ichthyoid that lived during the Vrrnci Age, when the most recent Aurix ancestors were the Eelix. Green Clackers grew to a length of about 10ft, and weighed in at an impressive 2 tons. They were a high-end predator of their time, and were possibly the apex predators of the Red Vuukelp Forests they called home.

Clackers were vicious, gluttonous, opportunistic hunters and generally would eat whatever they can find, including anything from small spinocephalopods to even other clackers. It is rare that a clacker of any species to have an empty belly, as they will try to eat another creature before the last meal has even passed through the stomach entirely. They were known to have found difficult competition in the Kelpstalkers, a race of Vuukelp Forest-inhabiting shark-like ichthyoids, who were swifter and more agile than the Green Clackers though they fed on a stricter diet.

Green Clackers had thick bones, which aided in the prevention of injury and also helped to secure the powerful muscles required to power the tail and the jaw. Unlike many species found in the universe, they did not truly possess teeth, but instead used a pair of long, sharpened, bony plates that were capable of easily slicing through flesh and snapping or crushing bone or shells.

The clacker genus are known for possessing some of the most powerful bites delivered by fish-equivilents on their homeworld, and could transfer approximately 5,500 psi along the tip of its jaws. However, unlike crocodiles on Earth, clackers can also open their jaws extremely fast, believed to be as fast as one-fourtieth of a second. This could cause a powerful vacuum effect which would suck prey into the mouth, and was used as the main method of food-capturing in the clacker genus.

Like many marine predators of their homeworld, Green Clackers (and for that matter, the entire clacker genus) were solitary hunters. Green Clackers detested rivals in their territory, and were not beyond eating the trespasser (or owner of the territory, as the case may be). To prevent such an encounter, the Clacker genus evolved to rapidly clacking their jaws together, to produce an audible sound that travels enough of a distance to warn trespassers of their approach. Many creatures eventually adapted to go into hiding when a Clacker made these sounds, and so they stopped producing the sound when actively hunting.

Even clackers of opposing genders will generally try to attack each other on site, mainly due to their opportunistic, predatory nature. Because of this, mating has evolved into a sophisticated tactic.

Clackers quickly evolved into maternal mouthbrooders, and females would become nomadic during the mating season, while males would remain in their territories. Females stopped producing the clacking sounds during this time of year and go into "silent mode", listening for the audible clacks of males patrolling their territories.

If a female clacker hears a male's clacking, she will generally go into hiding somewhere just outside of his zone, and will listen intently. She will lay there until she hears the clacking dissipate, indicating the male has moved along, and will then quietly enter his territory. From here, she will lay a clutch of a hundred or so eggs, which produce a very unique but weak pheromone. Once this is done, she will return to her hiding spot until she hears the male return. When (or if) the female was successful, the male would catch a whiff of the egg pheromones and go to investigate; once found, he would deposit his milt on the egg cluster to fertilize them and continue on his way. Again, once the female hears the male's clacking fade away she will sneak back into the territory and take the fertilized eggs in her mouth, to place in a special cavity in her head. They will remain there until they hatch.